


Choni Christmas Stories

by Just_Browsing



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-22 20:47:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17066831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_Browsing/pseuds/Just_Browsing
Summary: Hopefully going to be a few Choni Christmas stories :)





	1. The Annual Office Christmas Party

It was the night of the office’s annual Christmas party. The company had hired out a fancy hall full of decorations and trimmings to get everyone into the festive spirit. Veronica Lodge was not the kind of person to do things half-heartedly, so she made sure that the venue was full of classy yet festive decorations. She was the CEO of a fashion magazine called “Lodge Looks” and it had a lot of different branches all over the country that had all come together for the party tonight.

 

The hall was massive, having to fit in the abundance of people who worked for the magazine. It was dimly lit, with lots of circle tables with dark red table cloths on top of them. Each table had around 8 black chairs around it, with matching red bows on the back of them for decoration. The tables all had a centrepiece of a green wreath with small red flowers amongst it, adding to the festive feel. Christmas songs were playing on the speakers in the hall, causing everyone to hum and sing together.

 

All the different branches of the magazine were sat on tables next to each other, making it easier for Cheryl to get her bearings. She hadn’t been working for the magazine for long, she had gone through a rigorous recruitment programme after graduating from the London College of Fashion. She was a designer, and her passion was creating clothes. It was a dream to work for such an established magazine like Lodge Looks.

 

Cheryl had only been at the company for a few months, so hadn’t really got to know all of the people yet. She was surrounded by all the designers, editors, assistants, marketers and photographers that worked for her branch, but she only recognised a few faces.

 

Cheryl was sat next to the only friend that she had made at the company since she had been there, Josie McCoy. Josie was the assistant to one of the editors in the branch. They met through Cheryl literally bumping into Josie one morning in the office and leaving a scatter of papers on the floor. Their friendship had grown over the last few months and were each other’s comforts when the stress from the job got a little too much.

 

The two of the sat on one of the round tables in the middle of the hall, enjoying the complimentary bottle of champagne that they found when they arrived.

 

“This is one hell of a party.” Cheryl said as she looked around the room, wide eyed, admiring all the decorations and ambiance of the room.

 

“Yep!” Josie nodded in agreement, finishing her glass of champagne before pouring herself another one. “Miss Lodge pulls out all the stops, that’s for sure! You should have seen it last year, she hired fire eaters and it was so dope.”

 

“Well here’s to many more Christmas parties.” Cheryl replied as she offered her glass to Josie. “That is as long as we survive the next year.” She joked.

 

“Now _that’s_ something I’ll drink to.” Josie replied, clinking her glass against Cheryl’s with a laugh. “You’ll be fine girl, you’re settling right in.” She reassured her.

  
Cheryl smiled at the compliment and nodded her head at her friend. She had found the demands of the job hard at first but she felt more at home at the company now that she was mingling with the other workers. She loved her job and she couldn’t wait to climb the ladder.

 

\-----

 

As the night went on, Cheryl and Josie drank their fair share of complimentary champagne, laughing at the gossip that was being shared amongst everyone on their table.

 

“Omg and did you hear that Toni and her girlfriend split up?” A guy called Kevin asked the group. Cheryl had come to learn that he worked in the marketing department and knew the ins and outs of everyone at the branch.

 

“How do you even know that?” Josie gasped as the group settled down to listen.

 

“I may or may not…have been on a date with her friend Fangs and he let slip.” Kevin said quietly causing an eruption of gasps and laughs from the rest of the group for his revelations.

 

“Kev!” Josie squealed with a shocked look on her face. “You kept that one quiet!”

 

Kevin laughed and shook his head as he blushed slightly. “It’s very early days, but he’s really sweet so things are good so far.” He explained, unable to contain his smile at his newfound romance.

 

“Who’s Toni?” Cheryl asked Josie quietly, leaning closer to her so that the rest of the group couldn’t hear. They had moved onto a new topic of gossip thanks to Kevin now anyway.

 

“Oh, she’s a photographer that works for our branch.” Josie explained on the hush. “I’m sure I saw her earlier tonight…” She trailed off, peeking above Cheryl’s head to glance around the room in search of the mysterious photographer.

 

“Ah! There she is.” Josie said with excitement, nodding towards a table to the side of them. “Can’t miss that pink hair.”

 

“Pink hair?” Cheryl scoffed as she looked in the direction where Josie had motioned towards. “What _lunatic_ would have pink-”

 

Her sentence was cut short when she caught sight of the bright strands of pink hair that weaved their way through Toni’s golden-brown hair in the near distance. She moved in her seat slightly, stretching her neck to discretely get a better look at Toni, taken aback by how effortlessly beautiful she was.

 

Toni’s hair was in loose curls that draped over her back and shoulders perfectly, without a single strand out of place. She was sat with a table that were majority boys, laughing and joking. Her smile was captivating to Cheryl, she didn’t want to look away.

 

From what Cheryl could see, she was wearing a tight black dress that extenuated her toned collar bones. Cheryl noticed the subtle pink eyeshadow that she wore to bring out the pink in her hair and couldn’t help but smile to herself slightly. She looked on as her mouth suddenly went dry, shaking her head slightly to wake herself from her trance.

 

“Stop drooling, Casanova.” Josie teased, noticing Cheryl staring and looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

 

Cheryl rolled her eyes at her friend and shoved her in the arm playfully. “Shut up.” She scolded playfully, trying to hold back a laugh. “I was just looking to see what the pink hair was like…I approve.” She finished with a smirk on her face, knowing that Josie had caught her red handed.

 

\----

 

After a while, Cheryl found herself stood alone by the bar, looking out into the hall and watching everyone have a good time. She could hear Josie before she could see her, slightly drunk from the champagne and flirting with a guy on their table with Kevin being her wing-woman.

 

Cheryl took a seat on one of the bar stools that were next to her, stirring her cherry brandy and coke with her straw. She looked on and laughed at her friend, admiring the confidence that she had.

 

She had never been the type of person that could be the centre of attention, or keep a load of people interested in something she was saying. Part of her was jealous of Josie’s ability to captivate people with what she was saying, but then the other part of her loved that she could just chill and not have to be the centre of attention all the time.

 

“Ahh, Cheryl!” A familiar voiced exclaimed from next to her. Cheryl jumped slightly, not expecting the call, to find her boss Veronica Lodge standing next to her.

 

“Miss Lodge!” Cheryl gasped, swallowing a mouthful of her drink and smiling. “This is an amazing party.” She said gesturing to the room.

 

“That’s very kind of you thank you, Cheryl.” Veronica said genuinely. “All the worrying and planning pays off in the end when I look around and see everyone enjoying themselves.”

 

Cheryl nodded in agreement and stirred her drink with the straw, not really knowing what to say back. She heard a faked laugh from the other end of the bar, glancing over towards where the noise came from, she spotted Toni. Cheryl smiled to herself discretely at the bright pink hair, before turning her attention back to Veronica next to her.

 

Noticing Cheryl’s glance towards Toni, Veronica looked at her softly. Cheryl tilted her head to the side slightly, not really sure why her boss was looking at her like that.

 

“You know, Cheryl.” Veronica started. “You’re a great designer, and a damn good worker…but I only have one criticism of you.” She said simply, capturing Cheryl’s attention as she signalled to the bartender for another glass of champagne.

 

“What’s that?” Cheryl asked with a slightly furrowed brow.

 

“You need to be more ballsy.” Veronica stated plainly. “You need to go after the things you want, things won’t come to you in this world…you have to take control and make things happen.” She finished, Cheryl swore she saw her nod in Toni’s direction discretely at the same time.

 

Cheryl nodded slowly, taking in what Veronica was saying to her and thinking carefully. She glanced over to Toni again, still in the same place with a guy she’d never seen before.

 

“Like when you let Betty take the top model at the showcase last week.” Veronica stated, trying to reiterate her point. “Sometimes you need to be a little braver and do something for yourself, do you understand what I’m saying?” She asked as she picked up her refilled champagne from the bar.

 

“I understand, Miss Lodge.” Cheryl said slowly with a smile. “Thank you.”

 

“Enjoy your night.” Veronica finished as she smiled and walked away towards the executive table.

 

Cheryl took a deep breath to herself and leaned against the bar as she took the last sip of her drink. She looked over to Toni again, who had her back to her so couldn’t see her stealing glances at her all the time. She couldn’t help but smile at Toni’s choice of footwear, she was wearing combat boots with a tight black dress. Cheryl admired how she wasn’t afraid to be anyone other than herself, not caring what other people thought about her outfit choice.

 

She watched as Toni continued to speak to a red headed guy, she didn’t look too interested in the conversation though, always looking down to the rings on her fingers and fiddling with them.

 

Cheryl began to listen to the conversation between the two of them, this guy was clearly hitting on Toni but it didn’t seem like she was interested at all. The guy was pretty handsome, he wore a black suit that showed off his arm muscles and had a bright smile.

 

“So yeah, I love going to the gym so I work out a lot…and I love taking hikes with my dog.” Cheryl could hear the red headed guy say.

 

“Ohh cool.” Toni responded with a nod.

 

“I love spending time with my family…I have a couple nieces and nephews that I see pretty often.” He continued.

 

“So you haven’t got kids yourself?” Toni asked.

 

“Nope, not yet!” He replied as he shook his head. “I’m just waiting for the right girl, y’know?” He finished as he shot her a flirtatious smile.

 

“I’m not sure you’ll find it in me.” Toni responded with a slight laugh, brushing some hair off her face.

 

Cheryl couldn’t help but laugh to herself as she listened on to Toni’s sassy response. This guy was really trying to sell himself but it was clear that Toni wasn’t interested in this guy but he really wasn’t taking the hint and she was far too polite to say so.

 

Cheryl thought back quickly to what Veronica had said to her moments ago. How she had to start going for things that she wants and not just stand on the side-lines all the time. Should she help Toni? Cheryl took a deep breath and stood up from the barstool, she tidied her dress a bit and began to walk over to where Toni was stood.

 

“Why’s that?” The guy asked Toni in response to her slightly sarcastic comment, taking a small step towards her.

 

“Babe!” Cheryl exclaimed with a huge smile as she approached the two of them, causing the guy to jump slightly and take a step back again. “I’ve been looking all over for you!” She finished, wrapping her arm around Toni’s waist.

 

Toni turned her head to face Cheryl, with a confused look on her face but staying silent. Cheryl looked at her with a small smile, resulting in a slight blush appearing in the apples of Toni’s cheeks.

 

“Ethel from the accounts department cornered me by the horderves and you know how incessant she can be after she’s had a drink.” Cheryl said as she rolled her eyes playfully. “I couldn’t get away.”

 

Toni laughed and nodded her head slightly in agreement knowing that Ethel was a pain in the ass at the best of times, so she was even worth after a drink. Toni smiled brightly at Cheryl, loving the fancy vocabulary she used and the brutal honesty. Cheryl looked at the guy that was still standing there, perplexed by what was going on.

 

Before Toni had the chance to say anything, Cheryl jumped in again. “And who’s this?” She said, giving the guy a cheesy smile.

 

“Oh yeah, right!” Toni said with a breath as she shook her head, remembering where she was and who she was with. “This is umm…Archie?” She said slowly, basically asking if she had the right name.

 

“Yeah, Archie.” Archie replied awkwardly, giving Cheryl a small nod.

 

“He works in the downtown branch.” Toni explained more confidently, composing herself slightly. “In marketing.”

 

“Oh hi!” Cheryl said still smiling at Archie as she put her hand out for him to shake. “I’m Cheryl…Toni’s girlfriend. It’s great to meet you.” She finished as Archie took her hand cautiously.

 

“It’s nice to meet you too…” He said as he looked at Toni questioningly. “You didn’t mention-”

 

“Didn’t mention that she had a girlfriend?” Cheryl questioned for him. “I don’t think you gave her chance with your verbal diarrhoea…no offense.” She quipped, earning a laugh from Toni and a small smirk from Archie.

 

“Yeah sorry about that.” Archie said with an embarrassed look on his face as he scratched the back of his neck.

 

“It’s totally fine, Arch.” Toni replied with a smile. “I think there’s only room for one glamorous red head at the moment though.” She finished, looking at Cheryl with a smirk and giving her a cheeky wink.

 

Cheryl couldn’t help but smile at Toni’s playfulness. She was obviously a more glamorous red head than Archie and she was glad Toni noticed.

 

“Aww babe.” Cheryl said softly, brushing her hand through her own crimson hair and tucking a piece behind her ear. 

 

“I’ll leave you guys alone now.” Archie said as he laughed at himself. “Have a great night.” He finished before he walked away towards the rest of the people from the downtown branch.

 

Cheryl moved slightly and released her arm from around Toni’s waist, causing the pink haired girl to pout to herself as the warmth left her body. Cheryl faced Toni with a shy smile on her face, taking in her beauty up close.

 

“I’m sorry for barging in here like that but I was by the bar over there and it was pretty obvious that you weren’t into him.” Cheryl said quickly, trying to defend herself and not come across as a crazy stalker. “There’s nothing worse than someone too self-absorbed that they don’t see the signs in front of them.” She rambled on with a laugh.

 

Toni laughed at her explanation, discretely checking her out at the same time. Cheryl wore a tight black dress with three quarter length lace sleeves. The dress and the colour of her hair were a perfect match.

 

“So, yeah.” Cheryl continued. “I’ll let you go and enjoy the rest of your night now.” She finished as she looked at the ground nervously.

 

“Wait!” Toni said as she grabbed Cheryl’s arm lightly as she was about to walk away. “You can’t come to my rescue and just leave like that.” She said smoothly with a smirk on her face. “At least let me get you a drink?” She suggested hopefully.

 

“Isn’t it a free bar?” Cheryl questioned as she laughed.

 

“Even better then…I’ll get you two.” Toni teased with a wink.

 

“How could I possibly say no to that?” Cheryl asked playfully as Toni lead her back towards the barstools she was sat on moments ago.

 

The two sat down on the barstools and faced each other for a moment before Toni caught the bartenders eye to get them some drinks.

 

“So, are you having a nice night?” Cheryl asked shyly, suddenly feeling slightly nervous. She had taken Veronica’s advice and been ballsy but she had no idea how to see it through.

 

“It just got a whole lot better, let’s just say that.” Toni said softly, handing Cheryl her drink as she smiled at her sudden shyness. “Who are you here with?”

 

“Just my friend Josie.” Cheryl explained, taking a sip of drink. “I don’t really know many people in the branch yet, I’ve only been here a few of months.”

 

“I assumed you were quite new.” Toni revealed with a nod of her head. “I definitely would have remembered your face if I’d seen it before.” She said flirtatiously causing Cheryl to blush and look at the floor discretely.

 

“You don’t have to do that you know.” Toni said in a soft tone, placing her hand on Cheryl’s knee and squeezing it gently.

 

“What?” Cheryl questioned, looking up slightly confused.

 

“Look at the floor and be all shy.” Toni said simply. “Even though it’s kinda cute, you don’t have to be shy...I mean you’re gorgeous.”

 

Cheryl’s eyes drifted from the floor to meet Toni’s as a small smile spread across her face. She looked into Toni’s warm brown eyes, and was met with a feeling of butterflies in her stomach. The red head ran her hand through her hair, wiping away lose strands that fell over her face, unable to contain her smile at Toni’s compliment.

 

“Do you wanna get out of here?” Toni asked optimistically, noticing the smile that Cheryl was discretely trying to hide.

 

“What do you mean?” Cheryl asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

“I mean that I’d like to spend some more time with you…away from all this.” Toni said, gesturing her hands to the hall full of people dancing and talking loudly to each other. “If you want to, that is.” She finished softly.

 

Cheryl looked onto the dancefloor and spotted Josie instantly with her voluminous hair bouncing up and down to the rhythm of her dancing.

 

“Yeah that would be nice.” She admitted, met with a grin from Toni at her answer. “But what about Josie? We came here together.” She asked nodding towards where Josie was dancing with Kevin on the dancefloor.

 

“I’m sure she’ll be fine with Kev.” Toni said with a slight laugh at the way they were dancing. “She’s in good hands.”

 

Cheryl took another look at Josie before turning her attention back to Toni. She was sat with a beautiful girl, and she was asking to spend time with her, what more could she ask for right now?

 

She thought back to what Veronica had said to her about being more ballsy and brave in situations, and that she can’t wait for life to pass her by. With that in mine, she picked up her glass and raised it to her lips. She tilted her head back and downed the rest of the contents before placing it back onto the bar with a slight clatter.

 

“Let’s go.” She responded confidently with a huge smile on her face grabbing Toni’s hand and leading her towards the exit.

 

\-----

 

Toni showed her to a truck in the parking lot that she explained belongs to one of her friends that’s at the party.

 

“He won’t notice it’s gone don’t worry, I’ll bring it back later.” She said with a casual shrug of the shoulders, earning a laugh from Cheryl.

 

After a short car journey consisting of small chit chat and them both admiring the Christmas decorations that were on display around the town, Toni brought the truck to a halt outside a neon diner.

 

“This is like my favourite spot in town.” She said with a bounce as she turned the keys in the ignition and cut the engine. “Have you been here?” She asked.

 

“Nope…can’t say I have.” Cheryl replied as they both got out of the truck and made their way over to the entrance. “The last few months have basically consisted of me either cooking for myself or ordering take out.” She admitted with a stifled laugh.

 

“You really need to broaden your horizons.” Toni teased slightly as they sat down opposite each other in a cosy booth next to a window that looked into the parking lot.

 

Cheryl smiled at the teasing and rolled her eyes playfully. “Yeah, I think I do to be honest.” She agreed. “I’ve actually been told that I need to be more ballsy or whatever.” She finished as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and looked up at the waiter next to their table.

 

“Ahh, Toni!” The older waiter said with a smile as he approached the table. “What can I get you both?” He asked politely.

 

“Hey, Pop!” Toni beamed with a smile. “Uhhh, I think I’ll just have my usual for now please.” She asked as he jotted it down on his small notepad.

 

“One chocolate milkshake.” Pop said as he wrote it down. “And for you, my dear?” He asked looking at Cheryl, pen poised.

 

“I’ll have a strawberry milkshake please.” She replied with a nod.

 

“Coming right up!” Pop said joyfully as he turned around and made his way into the kitchen.  

 

“So…how are you new?” Toni asked, carrying on their conversation from before Pop’s had taken their order. “Like where did you come from?” She elaborated.

 

Cheryl explained that she was originally from a small town but found a passion in art and design in high school.

 

“I worked my ass off in high school to get better at drawing and I just loved the idea of creating something for someone to wear.” She revealed. Toni smiled as the red head spoke about her passion, noticing instantly how happy it made her.

 

“So, in the end I managed to get a scholarship to a fashion school in London…I was scared to go at first, but it was my brother who convinced me to go.” Cheryl finished as her tone got more hushed when Pop brought over their milkshakes.

 

“Sounds pretty ballsy to me.” Toni said admiring the bold move to travel to another country. “Super badass.”

 

“Yeah it was.” Cheryl said with a small smile, but Toni could see that there was something wrong. “But I’m not the same person now as when I went, to be honest.” Cheryl admitted with a sigh as she took a sip from her milkshake.

 

“Why’s that?” Toni asked with a raised eyebrow as Cheryl shifted in her seat nervously. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Toni reassured her, the last thing she wanted to do was to make her feel uncomfortable.

 

Cheryl stared into her milkshake for a moment and took a deep breath before glancing at Toni’s gentle smile in front of her. Was she really about to unload all her baggage onto a stranger? An _incredibly pretty_ stranger, but a stranger nevertheless. There was something about Toni that made Cheryl feel comfortable and safe, she composed herself before relaxing into the smooth seat of the booth.

 

“My brother died around a year ago.” She said quickly and honestly, met with a wide eye expression from Toni. “I was over in London when it happened.”

 

“Oh shit, I’m sorry Cheryl.” Toni said softly as she reached her hand across the table to rest on top of the red head’s. “I didn’t mean to-”

 

“It’s okay, it was an accident.” Cheryl cut her off with a nod of the head, reassuring Toni that she was okay.

 

“But I bet he would be proud of you now, though.” Toni whispered gently, giving Cheryl’s hand a gentle squeeze. “I mean look at you, you’re killing it working for one of the biggest magazines in the fashion world…sounds like he knew what you were capable of.”

 

A small tear formed in the corner of Cheryl’s eye as she used her free hand to wipe it away with a small laugh to herself. “I’m sorry, you didn’t ask for my messed-up life story.” She said as she shook her head.

 

“It’s okay…I’m glad you told me.” Toni replied simply yet softly, making Cheryl feel at ease again.

 

“So, what about you?” Cheryl asked. “What’s your story? There must be one about that pink hair of yours.”

 

Both girls laughed at the quip towards Toni’s pink highlights going through her hair. “It started as a bet a few years ago, my buddy Fangs bet me that if I couldn’t get some girls number by the end of the night at a party we were at, I had to die my hair pink.” She explained as she laughed.

 

“So, you struck out with the girl, huh?” Cheryl assumed with a giggle, watching Toni twirl a loose strand of pink hair in between her fingers.

 

“Oh yeah.” She replied poking fun at herself. “But when I did it, I kinda liked the pink so I kept dying it…so jokes on him really.” She finished with a smirk.

 

“I like it, too.” Cheryl said before she had chance to think what she was saying, feeling her cheeks start to blush slightly.

 

\-----

 

A couple hours had passed and both girls were still sat in the same booth, laughing and joking about various things in their lives. Cheryl had found out that Toni started off in photography through taking pictures at one of her friend’s weddings randomly. Toni explained how she loved how much happiness could be captured in a single photo at something like a wedding and her dream is to have her own photography company one day.

 

As the two continued to chat, ‘Westlife-Uptown Girl’ started playing on the jukebox, causing Toni to sit up in her seat and sway to the music. Cheryl couldn’t help but laugh at her goofy lip-syncing and shoulder shimmies in the booth, only encouraging her to do it more.

 

“I love this song!” Toni gasped as she clicked her fingers to the tune with a beaming smile. “I kind of have a guilty pleasure for boy bands.” She said barely above a whisper.

 

“What was that?” Cheryl asked, leaning forward slightly to make sure she knew what Toni was saying.

 

“Boy bands.” Toni said quietly again with her face in her hands amongst some giggles.

 

Cheryl burst out into a hearty laugh, tilting her head back and raising her hand to her chest. She shook her head and looked at Toni who was pretending to look shocked and offended at her reaction.

 

“Boy bands?!” Cheryl gasped through her laughter. “I really didn’t have you down to like them at all.” She admitted, calming herself.

 

“I know it’s messed up.” Toni admitted as they both laughed at her music taste. “I just can’t help it.” She said as she shrugged her shoulders with a beaming smile at the sight of Cheryl laughing in front of her.

 

Cheryl laughed but noticed her phone screen illuminate on the table in front of her. She picked it up and noticed that it was a text from Josie.

 

“Shit! Look at the time!” She said sounding slightly sad. “I need to get back to Josie and head home.” She finished with a slight pout, reading that the time was almost 2am.

 

“Let me give you a ride back.” Toni offered as they both stood up and left some money for the milkshakes on the table.

 

“Thank you so much…I had a really nice time tonight.” Cheryl said softly, meeting Toni’s eye with a smile.

 

“We should do it again sometime?” Toni asked her tentatively, met with a smile and nod from Cheryl.

 

The two make their way to the exit and Cheryl opens the door to see that it is raining heavily outside, she stands in the arch of the doorway getting wet but prepping herself to make a dart for the truck at the same time.

 

Toni laughed as she looked down at a spare umbrella that was in a bucket by the foot of the door. She reached down and grabbed it, trying to figure out how to open it. She held it up slightly, as something dangling above the door frame caught her attention.

 

She stops what she’s doing and stares up at the most delicate piece of mistletoe hanging over the two of them in the door frame, with vibrant red berries poking out over the green leaves.

 

“Toni what are you doing-? Cheryl says as she turns towards Toni with the umbrella. Noticing that Toni had given up on getting the umbrella up, Cheryl takes a look up at what Toni is staring at.

 

“Mistletoe.” Cheryl whispered gently she took a small step towards Toni, sheltering herself from the rain once more.

 

Toni smiled nervously as she met Cheryl’s brown eyes just inches from her own. She felt a small wave of butterflies’ dance through her body as she giggled and smirked at the red head.

 

Cheryl couldn’t help but smile at the sudden shyness that Toni was showing. She gently placed her hand on Toni’s cheek, cupping it and softly stroking it with her thumb.

 

_Go after what you want, Cheryl_ echoed in the back of Cheryl’s mind, from what Veronica had told her earlier in the night.

 

Cheryl brought Toni’s face towards hers as she leaned in slowly, tilting her head and closing her eyes. She met Toni’s lips with her own, placing a soft kiss onto them as she giggled to herself discretely. Toni pulled the red head closer, deepening the kiss between them and placing her hands onto Cheryl’s hips.

 

It was only Cheryl’s first Christmas party with Lodge Looks, but she knew that this one was going to be hard to beat.


	2. A New Kind of Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My core 4 do some Christmas decorating...

It was the 1st of December, which only meant one thing in Thistlehouse, it was officially the start of Christmas and it was time to put the decorations up all over the house. Cheryl had enlisted the help of Sweet Pea and Fangs to put up most of the decorations in the house, partly to put their superior height to good use but otherwise because it meant that she could just snuggle with Toni as they watched and be entertained by the bickering between the two boys throughout the process.

 

There were lights hung in the walls around Thistlehouse, making a change from the usual pristine appearance it usually had. Bright red stockings for Cheryl and Toni hung over on the mantelpiece over the fire, accompanied with one for Fangs and Sweet Pea of course. Cheryl had bought Christmas scented candles, so each room had a different scent ranging from candy canes to cinnamon.

 

“Dude, I swear to God if you put the same coloured bauble next to each other again I am going to flip!” Fangs exclaimed as he punched Sweet Pea in the arm lightly. “There’s a system, man! Split the colours up!” He finished as he shook his head and rubbed his temples.

 

“Ohh get a grip, will you?” Sweet Pea said with a laugh, poking fun at Fangs’ strict decorating rules. “If I knew decorating the tree was going to be this much hard work I would never have agreed to it.”

 

“It’s our first Christmas at Thistlehouse, I just want everything to look perfect…is that so much to ask?” He asked rhetorically, passing Sweet Pea a silvered coloured bauble to put on the tree. “Cheryl, please tell me you agree?” He asked as he turned around to look at the couch.

 

Cheryl and Toni lay, snuggled up under a warm blanket watching the two other Serpents decorate the tree. They were in constant fits of discrete giggles whenever Fangs had a mini meltdown about bauble placement.

 

“As much as I love the sentiment, Fangs…I think that the tree will look great no matter where each coloured bauble ends up.” Cheryl said as she tried to hide her smile. “To be honest, I’m just glad my hellish mother isn’t here to ruin the occasion…So whatever you do will be a vast improvement on my previous festivities.” She teased, earning a smile from Fangs as he relaxed.

 

“Told you.” Sweet Pea taunted playfully as he picked up a bundle of fairy lights and found an electric socket to plug them into. “Now help me with these lights.” He said gesturing for Fangs to help position them on the tree with him.

 

The two girls continued to watch on as their best friends tried their best to swirl the lights all around the deep green Christmas tree that sat in front of the living room window. Toni lay with her head resting on Cheryl’s chest, burying her face into the curve of Cheryl’s neck to laugh at the boys’ shenanigans, inhaling the sweet maple scent that stuck to her girlfriend like glue.

 

Fangs and Sweet Pea placed the lights on the tree so that they could be seen from every angle of the living room, per Cheryl’s request of course. It didn’t take them long to get tangled in the abundance of wire that they were handling, causing Sweet Pea to be more fairy light that Serpent.

 

“Don’t you _dare_!” Sweet Pea gasped through his laughter at himself, as he watched Toni grab her phone from the side of the couch to take a picture of him covered in fairy lights.

 

“But you look so festive!” Toni replied back, laughing at the giant Serpent reduced to a flickering ball of Christmas lights. “Definitely one for Instagram.” She teased as she showed Cheryl the photos she had just taken, earning a hearty laugh from the red head.

 

Fangs, Cheryl and Toni all looked on as Sweet Pea struggled and tried to fight his way out of being tangled in the Christmas lights, with no luck. He flailed his arms around, trying to loosen the knots he had formed until he just stood still, and took a deep breath.

 

“Can someone _please_ help me?” He asked in a puff, trying to conceal the smirk on his face, he knew it was funny, he just didn’t want to be on the receiving end of the jokes.

 

“Hold still.” Fangs chuckled as he began to move the wires around on Sweet Pea, trying to undo the tangled wires.

 

“You guys are such idiots!” Toni teased from the couch, watching them both struggle to free Sweet Pea.

 

Cheryl laughed at her girlfriend’s playfulness as she got up of the couch and grabbed a bunch of wire that was around Sweet Pea’s waist, holding him still as she unravelled him with ease.

 

“But they’re _our_ idiots.” Cheryl said with a smirk as she looked back at Toni and tossed Fangs the rest of the wires.

 

Sweet Pea and Fangs managed to wrap the lights around the tree, meaning that only the last few baubles were left to hang. Cheryl stood over the box as she picked up a few in her hand, giving one to Toni to place on the tree as well.

 

“You only join in for the easy part!” Sweet Pea gasped as Toni hung up some sparkly baubles with a smug grin on her face. “We’re the ones who’ve been slaving away this whole time.” He said gesturing towards himself and Fangs, both pretending to look overly shocked.

 

“If you have a problem with that Sweet Pea…I can always return the present that I have so generously gotten you.” Cheryl said smoothly with a teasing tone with a hint of sass.

 

Sweet Pea’s eyes widened as he shook his head quickly. “No no no no!” He gasped, unable to hide his smirk as he raised his hands. “I love putting up all the decorations…don’t I Fangs!” He said slightly sarcastically as Fangs nodded in agreement while laughing at how Cheryl put him in his place.

 

“That’s what I thought, too.” Cheryl said with a nod as Toni stepped closer to her by the tree.

 

“What have you even got him?” Toni asked quietly so Sweet Pea and Fangs couldn’t hear her. “I haven’t even thought about presents yet.” She admitted.

 

Cheryl turned her head and raised her eyebrow at her Toni with a dramatic shocked expression on her face.

 

“Except for yours, of course!” Toni corrected herself placing a quick kiss to Cheryl’s nose, causing both girls to laugh.

 

“I haven’t got him anything yet.” Cheryl revealed with a smirk. “He’s like a child that you can threaten with Santa into doing whatever you want.” She finished as she laughed.

“You’re good.” Toni replied with a nod as she smiled at Cheryl’s quick thinking.

 

“I’m thinking of getting him one of those passes that mean you can drive race cars around the track?” Cheryl said as she scrunched her nose, showing that she was toying with the idea.

 

“He’ll love that.” Toni reassured her as she grazed her fingertips over the red heads arm next to the tree.

 

“ _If_ he behaves.” Cheryl replied teasingly, earning a laugh from Toni.

 

\-----

 

The four of them placed all the baubles onto the tree and took a step back to look at what they had created. The tree was illuminated by flashing lights that made the different coloured baubles sparkle.

 

“We haven’t put the star on top!” Toni noticed as she picked the star up that lay on top of a box that was next to her feet.

 

“Well we have to fix that don’t we!” Fangs said joyfully as he watched Toni pick up the star and quickly pick her up, much to the pink haired Serpents surprise. Fangs held Toni up as she wriggled and laughed before placing the bright star on top of the tree.

 

“All done.” Fangs said as the four of them admired the illuminations in front of them.

 

A sudden thought of realisation hit Cheryl. “Not quite.” She said softly, before making her way upstairs in a hurry, earning a few confused looks between Toni, Sweet Pea and Fangs.

 

Cheryl came back downstairs with a small shoebox in her hands. She placed is on the couch gently before tracing her fingertips over the lip gently.

 

“What’s in the box, babe?” Toni asked her gently, noticing that Cheryl had gone quite quiet.

 

Cheryl traced her fingers along the box until she met the edges, lifting up the lid to reveal a small decoration covered in tissue paper inside.

 

“Jason made this when we were little.” She said quietly as she lifted it out of the box and held it up for them to see.

 

It was a small tree decoration, in the shape of his hand that he had drawn around and cut out himself, clear from the raggedy edges from the scissors. The decoration hung from a piece of red ribbon and had the letters ‘JB’ on it in big red letters with green glitter scattered slightly on top.

 

“Put it on the tree, Red.” Sweet Pea said as he wrapped his arms around Cheryl’s waist and picked her up in one swoop.

 

“Oh my God it’s so high up here!” Cheryl squealed as Sweet Pea swung her around a little on his way to the tree, making her laugh.

 

“Right at the top.” Sweet Pea instructed as he got Cheryl as close and as high up the tree as he could.

 

Cheryl leaned and placed the decoration just underneath the star on the tree so the sparkle from it made it stand out. Toni watched on, unable to contain the soft smile on her face at the sight of her best friends and her girlfriend. They had become a small dysfunctional family and she was so thankful for it.

 

“Speaking of baubles…” Toni started, making her way over to the cabinet in the corner of the room and opening the bottom drawer, pulling out a large box. “I got some presents for us all.” She said, as the rest of them crowded her, willing her to open the box.

 

Toni lifted the lid on the box to show four glass baubles inside, placed in some Styrofoam bits and tissue paper for safe keeping. They were all transparent with giant initials on the front, a green ‘SP’ for Sweet Pea, a blue ‘F’ for Fangs, a purple ‘T’ for herself and a bright red glittery ‘C’ for Cheryl.

 

“They’re beautiful, TT.” Cheryl gasped, reaching into the box and pulling out the one with a giant red ‘C’ on it. “How did you get them.” She asked, looking at her girlfriend with the softest of expressions.

 

“Believe it or not, Reggie hooked me up.” She said with a slight laugh. “His cousin out of town makes them or something.” She explained.

 

“Let’s get them on the tree!” Fangs said joyfully, practically skipping over o the tree and placing his on carefully.

 

Sweet Pea, Toni and Cheryl did the same, hanging their own baubles on the tree in their own spots. It was a new kind of Christmas for them all. Cheryl being used to the coldness of her mother instead of any happiness. Sweet Pea, Fangs and Toni all used to spending it in a cramped trailer instead of an actual house. They all knew that this was a new beginning.

 

“It’s so nice to have our decorations on the tree next to Jason’s” Cheryl said with a smile as she gazed at the ornaments on the tree. “He would have loved you all.”

 

“I’m sure he would have fit right in.” Fangs said sincerely.

 

“It’s time to finally make some happy Christmas memories.” Cheryl declared as she nodded her head slightly, enlacing Toni’s hand with her own.

 

“That’s what I like to hear.” Toni said to her gently, giving her hand a light squeeze. “And we can start…by watching one of my all-time favourite Christmas films…”

 

Sweet Pea groaned and rolled his eyes, pretending to not be interested. “If she says ‘The Holiday’ I am going to lose my shit-”

 

“The Holiday!” Toni exclaimed before he even had chance to finish his sentence as Cheryl had a beaming smile on her face.

 

“Come on, Pea.” Cheryl said as she hit in on the arm gently as she, Toni and Fangs sat on the couch and got comfortable.

 

“Fine…” Sweet Pea gave in, unable to hide his smirk.

 

All four of them squeezed in on the couch and got comfortable to watch the film. Cheryl snuggled up to Toni, with her head resting on the Serpents shoulder.

 

“Merry Christmas, babe.” Toni whispered into her ear softly so only she could hear it, bring a small smile to Cheryl’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this! If anyone has any ideas of what to write next, let me know in the comments :)
> 
> Be sure to check out my fic "New Arrivals" if you haven't already :)  
> Tumblr- @justbrowsingokay
> 
> Any feedback, let me know! Merry Christmas everyone!!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this!! It was only supposed to be short but it kinda got away from me and I couldn't stop lol!
> 
> Be sure to check out my fic "New Arrivals" if you haven't already :)  
> Tumblr- @justbrowsingokay
> 
> I'd love to hear any feedback from you all or if you want to suggest something Christmassy to write I could maybe give it a go :)


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